Are You Ready for the Death of the Password?

Here at Gigya, we strongly believe that the death of the password is nigh. In fact, we believe in that statement so strongly, we went out and did a bunch of research on the issue and recently held an in-depth webinar on the subject.

To get a deep-dive look at the death of the password, we would love you to have a look at our webinar, 5 Ways to Prepare for the Death of the Password. But, before you do, here’s a brief synopsis of what you’ll learn, and why people are getting so frustrated and fed up with long, drawn out registration forms and antiquated password creation rules and regulations.

Registration and Profile Management is Broken

It’s well known that the biggest reason passwords fail is because human beings are fallible. You could have the most robust requirements on the planet, but there are still human beings on the other end continually opting for easy-to- crack passwords. Aside from those issues, your systems are also probably more dated than you think due to the rapid advancements in digital technology we’ve seen over the last five to ten years or so. Changes like the Internet of Things, big data, mobile and the resultant omni-channel challenges it’s created, as well as the ever-shifting security and compliance landscape.

But back to those human beings. When we did our research back in February (4,000 U.S. and UK adults, age 18-69), we found that more than 50 percent of respondents knew they were using weak passwords, but used them anyway. And those who opted for more complicated passwords? They forgot them.

In fact, a whopping 84 percent went through the forgotten password/password recovery process at least once a year. And that’s bad, really bad, for your business. Here’s why.

Understanding the Negative Impact on Your Business

As we dug deeper into our data, we found that nearly a third of our respondents abandon account creation—and more than half even abandon logging in—due to password and username registration and profile management issues. We spoke to 4,000 people. Extrapolate that figure over the billions surfing the web today, and things start to get serious.

These are current customers and potential leads you are losing—think about the overall lifetime value of these two groups—and think about how great business would be if you weren’t losing them!

It’s 2016. There should be a better way. And the good news is, there is.

Password Alternatives Available Today

Here are some of the alternatives Gigya offers it’s clients (you can get more information on each of these from the webinar itself).

Social Login Options: This one click process is fast becoming the new favorite for many customers, especially those trying to register and/or log-in via mobile. It provides ease of use for the customer, and, with over 20 different social network logins available via Gigya, it provides you with a plethora of customer identity data such as likes, shares, preferences, purchases and page views, among others.

One Time Mobile Password: A one time pin sent to the user’s mobile device, this is extremely effective in parts of the world where email is less prevalent, and it also reduces the “forgotten password and user name” churn mentioned above.

Light Registration: This system requires an email address and nothing more, allowing Gigya to begin to create a customer profile and gather user behavioral data. How do you do that, with only an email, you might be asking? We use what we call progressive profiling, slowly asking more and more questions of the user each time they log in. These progressive information requests are triggered in various ways: Gaps in return site visits, purchase history, other URLs they’ve visited, and more.

Mobile Authentication Techniques: Enter biometrics. While it sounds slightly sci-fi, biometrics are fully supported by Gigya as well, and are beginning to take hold as a preferred security method for accessing devices as well as apps.

Speaking of Biometrics…

Instead of being tentative, a lot of people in the general population are chomping at the bit for more biometrics options when it comes to replacing passwords. In fact, 80 percent of our survey respondents (that expressed a preference) believed that not only is it easier, but it’s safer to use biometrics options when accessing digital data. While fingerprint scanning is the most commonly used, voice and facial recognition, as well as iris scanning, are all on the rise. And again, for a full demographic and devices used statistical breakdown, as well as the way manufacturers are preparing for the coming biometric explosion, check out the webinar.

There’s really interesting technology on the horizon when it comes to login authentication and the drive to replace passwords with more efficient and effective systems. We can safely say that the death of the password is on the horizon, and, based on how the general public feels about logins, passwords, and other authentication irritations when online, Gigya is happy to be at the forefront of some of the technology to help it along.